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Age 17 – Grades up, new interests and job, better social skills

I’m currently seventeen years old and I’ve been practising NoFap for over a little more than a year now. Like most of you I decided to start NoFap because I wanted to change something about myself. During my journey all the positive posts from others helped a lot at tough times, so I hope that my post is able to help some of you.

Here in this post I will be trying to tell you everything that has changed in my life, I hope you are able to use this information as inspiration or as something positive to help you continue your journey.

Gaining weight- When I started NoFap I was 185 centimeters long and weighed 62 kilograms, in the past year I’ve been able to gain 12 kilograms of muscle.

I became a lifeguard- To step out of my comfort zone and meet new people I joined a corporation of lifeguards. To become a lifeguard I had to train for several weeks and pass the toughest medical aid exam in the Netherlands (from the Orange Cross).

Diet changes- I changed my diet, now I try to eat as much as possible to avoid losing weight. I also stopped eating and drinking things with a lot of sugar.

Took up an extra sport- I started doing calisthenics, a form of weight training and also started swimming. I already played football/soccer, so excersizing and sports now take up 7 days of the week.

My first job- I started working evening shifts at a local supermarket to save money for the near and far future.

Started focussing on school again- During primary school all the subjects were so easy that I never payed attention and neglected my homework. I continued to do so in high school, but my grades kept slowly dropping from nines to fives and sometimes even to three’s, in the third grade this almost caused me to fail my year and forced me to forfeit my gymnasium education. After this I began pursuing sufficient grades (a six) again. Finally in my fifth year I decided I would leave my school striving for a seven as average. I managed to already get a seven as average grade for: Dutch, English, both mathsB and MathsD, IB, religion and Physics.

Started playing an instrument- I started playing the guitar as a hobby and now do this whenever I have the chance.

Got into fashion- I started paying attention to what I wear and the different clothing pieces that I own and now try to look as good as possible every single day. I Also became interested in fragrances and now own a few of them.

Staying positive- During my first few months of NoFap and a little bit before that, there was a time when I had a crush on a girl who I first only saw as a friend, but who gave me the signs that meant she was attracted to me. But off course I was oblivious to all of them and slowly she pulled back because I was afraid to show her that I had feelings for her. After a while I summoned the courage to tell her how I feel and go for the kiss, but she had already found a new boyfriend and I was rejected. This all made me feel really depressed and for the longest time I wasn’t able to feel happy or even attracted to another woman. But this all changed when I took a long hard look at myself, who I was in the past and who I had become. I believed that my mindset had changed from positive to negative and I decided that I wanted to go back to the time when I felt like I could take on the entire world. Looking back on everything I don’t know if I was in a flatline or depressed or both, but I do know that at the moment I feel the happiest I’ve ever been in my entire life.

Cold showers- I started taking cold showers to discipline myself and because of the health benefits for your body. If you excersize you should really try it after your workout is finished.

Better people skills- It may just be because I’ve matured a bit throughout the year, but I feel like I’m more social and more around other people than before. I also learned how to read people’s emotions, when someone says something I now notice how they are feeling at that moment through body language. I must admit that I don’t have this skill in every conversation.

Well it seems like I can’t think of any other changes, but I do have some final advice. Don’t forget to look back at the progress you have made, if you are only looking towards the future and don’t stop to think about how far you have come then you will never be able to enjoy the pride that comes after completing your goal. If you need some extra motivation go to bed early and you will be able to survive the coming day, it has worked for me during my school year so I’m sure you will be able to benefit too.

Believe in yourself and challenge yourself from time to time, I completed a year of abstention, so that means that all the other Fapstronauts can too. I wish you all the best of luck on your journey!